


Unbroken Snow

by Rhaized



Series: Adventures of Mary and Marisa [4]
Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Adventures of Mary and Marisa in Mary's Oxford, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Kissing, Marisa won't, Mary is everyone's favorite, Snowfall, So she manipulates others, shoveling snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28153173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhaized/pseuds/Rhaized
Summary: Marisa is tasked with shoveling snow after a particularly heavy snowstorm befalls the Oxford area. Naturally, she tries to find ways around it, because such work is quite beneath her.
Relationships: Marisa Coulter/Mary Malone
Series: Adventures of Mary and Marisa [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073954
Comments: 13
Kudos: 69





	Unbroken Snow

**Author's Note:**

> “My favorite moment is early morning, when the sky is high and the land seems endless. All that’s in front of you is fresh, unbroken snow. You feel utterly alone and you feel utterly magnificent.”  
> —Season 1 Episode 1, “Lyra’s Jordan”  
> ((unless it means you have to work))

Marisa stared at the metal snow shovel clasped in her gloved hands. It was large and smooth, glinting silver in the early-morning sunlight. Mary said it was brand new and had been just  _ waiting  _ for a proper snowfall. It was nimble, it was light; it was everything a snow shovel should be. And Marisa couldn't care less. 

It wasn't that Marisa didn't  _ like  _ the snow. She did. When she traveled across the North, the snow was always her favorite part. Fields and fields of it greeted her when she'd gaze out at it, glistening at her and inviting her closer. When she was a child she played for hours in the snow, her daemon shifting between great bears and lithe foxes and quick deer as they ran and jumped and hid. Snow thus held a very special place in her heart and was, in a way, a core part of who she was. 

She just didn't feel like shoveling it by hand here, though, in this strange new world. What did she look like—a manual laborer? Weren't there _people_ for this? 

Her daemon chuckled under his breath as she bent forward and plunged the edge of the shovel into the snow gathered on the first part of the driveway. She grunted as it sank down and she hunched over to lift it, aware of her monkey's increasing snickers. 

“What are  _ you  _ laughing at?” she demanded, turning to glare at him. He stopped at once, lowering his gaze and shrinking away.  _ Bug off,  _ she thought to him moodily, going back over to her task at hand. 

With a huff she took the snow and flung it over onto the grass. It landed with a satisfying thud and broke through the snow already laying there. One scoop down and only…at least fifty to go? If not more? 

"This is ridiculous," Marisa mumbled, puncturing the snow again and heaving with the effort as she flung yet another load off to the side. The golden monkey shifted on his feet as he watched her. Marisa sensed his unease and his  _ pity  _ for her, as he knew how much she hated this sort of work (why did she agree when Mary asked her, Marisa increasingly wondered?). A thought occurred to her just then as she whipped around to stare at him, her eyes sparkling as his widened. 

"Come here," she said to him sweetly, resting her elbow on the tip of the handle as she beckoned to him. Very carefully, her daemon stood up and walked over to her, sniffing the air as he went. "Don't be frightened. Do you think you can help me?" 

She was patronizing him, she knew, and part of him  _ hated  _ that, but he was just anxious enough to let it slide. He sat back down just in front of her and considered her again, his eyes tracing her face and the shovel and her arm wrapped smoothly around it. She thought to him what she wanted, and then he frowned, although he stood up again and came over to her. 

“You can do it,” she said to him gently, watching as he picked up the shovel and held it by the base. "Now just scoop up the snow with the blade. Go on."

He did, struggling at first but then managing to slip the blade under a fresh patch of snow. It took some effort but then he eventually lifted it up with both of his paws, managing it so none of the snow escaped. He jumped excitedly at that, flashing her a shy look. 

"You're doing excellent," she praised, smirking as he then picked up the blade and moved it over to the grass. He dumped it out just as she had done, although it'd taken him longer. It would take him forever to do this, Marisa realized, and perhaps she should care about that and feel guilty about it. But alas, it didn't bother her all that much. She knew he could handle it. They were one in the same, after all. And she just really, really didn't want to do all of this herself. 

_ "Marisa!"  _ Before she could even get comfortable watching him work for her, Mary came dashing out from inside, no coat on and only her little plaid slippers covering her feet. "What are you doing?" 

"Shoveling," she answered, looking down as the golden monkey paused mid-scoop, gazing up at Mary defeatedly as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He had nothing to feel guilty about, Marisa fumed, and she felt herself grow indignant as Mary looked between the two of them and started gaping. 

"You can't make him do this for you!" Mary moved to take the shovel from his little hands. Her fingers brushed his as she did so, and Marisa felt a surge of ice fill her briefly before it was gone and Mary was forcing the shovel back into her hands. It took Marisa's breath away so that she couldn't even process the sudden action. 

"He wanted to help," Marisa puffed as she took the shovel and leaned against it, shooting daggers at her daemon. He gazed back, his expression pained.  _ Tell her that,  _ Marisa insisted. 

"Is that true?" Mary demanded,  _ also  _ turning to glare at him. The golden monkey was then caught between two very cross women. Marisa had seldom seen him more uncomfortable, which would make her laugh if it weren't so serious and if she didn't need him to defend her. He simply cowered away from the intensity of it all, looking at neither Mary nor Marisa as he fell back into the snow. 

"I think that answers it," said Mary, and she moved forward to bend down and pick him up. Again, such  _ feeling  _ coursed through Marisa at the action. She felt Mary's hands gently wrap around his body and then cradle him. It was wrong, and sickening, while at the same time  _ not.  _ For his part the golden monkey practically  _ purred  _ as his eyes narrowed and he offered his head up for Mary to pet and to stroke. It was cruel, really, as Marisa winced and he swooned. Mary didn't understand the taboo as Marisa supposed she had never actually said anything about it, and she certainly wouldn't do so now. 

"We're going inside," Mary declared then, holding the monkey tighter. "You can join us once you've finished here." As Marisa scowled, growing more irritated by the golden monkey and his betrayal than by Mary, the other woman softened. She came closer so that they were only a few inches apart. "Finish soon so you can join us for a movie." Her eyes flicked down to Marisa's lips before she leaned forward and kissed Marisa lightly. It only lasted a second before she moved away and hurried back into the house, the golden monkey peeking back at his human almost apologetically. 

This was great.  _ Absolutely  _ great. Marisa let out a hiss of frustration as she scooped up a pile of snow and then flung it as far away as she could. It hit the branches of a nearby tree, which then toppled even  _ more  _ snow onto the ground which spilled into the drive. Marisa let out a small scream then as she began to assault the driveway and the snow, moving the shovel in one fluid motion from the cement to the grass. She moved like a madwoman, growing increasingly aggressive as she launched the snow into the air and pounced forward through the drive. 

It was during a particularly heated scoop that she tripped over her own feet and then fell, feeling the wind knocked out of her as she collapsed to the ground. 

"Are you alright, ma'am?" 

Out of nowhere, it seemed, a man came rushing over from the street to help her. Looking up, she saw a younger man no older than twenty or so lean forward and offer his hand to her, which she took gently as he pulled her up, his other arm moving to her side as she regained her balance. 

"Oh, thank you," she said, feeling dazed as she took him in and felt the steady chill of the snow creep in as she'd gotten it all over her backside and knees. The man looked at her with concern coloring his eyes and his face, arm still at her waist as he asked her what happened and if she hit her head. It was then that Marisa had an idea.

"My foot," she let out, placing it on the ground and then feigning pain before lifting it up and wincing. The man breathed in sympathy with her as she reached out to clutch his shoulder. "Oh, it  _ hurts _ ."

"Can I take you to a doctor?" 

"No, no, I'll be alright," she insisted, although she timed another groan of pain as she put her foot back down. "And I really need to finish shoveling the driveway…"

It was simple, what happened next. She batted her eyelashes in such a careful way as she grimaced again at the pain, reaching out for his hand as she stumbled from trying to move toward the shovel. He eyed her and then the shovel, and then paused before saying: "Maybe I could help you?" 

She brushed him off with gracious thanks before he insisted again and she finally agreed. It was too easy. So incredibly easy. She held back her smirk as he finished up the rest of the drive for her, moving fast and steady as he cleared away all the white fluff. 

"Thank you  _ so  _ much," she sang as he finished up. He was only slightly out of breath and his bare hands only the faintest shade of pink as he handed the shovel back to her and nodded. 

"It was no problem at all," he said, "but are you sure you're alright?" 

"Quite," she replied, her lips twisting into a neat smile. "I'm going to go ice my foot now, and I'm so glad this is done. I hope you have a blessed day."

"All done already?" Mary looked up in surprise as Marisa sauntered back into the house. She supposed it had only been a half hour or so, whereas it would have taken her longer to do if she hadn't rage-shoveled the first bit and then gotten that man to do the rest for her. 

"All done," Marisa told her, slowly taking off her gloves and hat as she offered the woman a mischievous grin. "Want to go check my handiwork?" 

"No, that's alright," Mary laughed, her eyes amused as she followed Marisa's movements of setting her outerwear on the table and then slipping out of her coat. "Are you cold?" 

"I'm a bit  _ heated,  _ actually," Marisa said, grinning even wider at Mary's widened eyes as she leaned down over the couch and then captured Mary's lips with her teeth. Mary let out a grunt of surprise before returning the kiss, reaching up to grab Marisa by the shoulders and then drag her onto the couch with her. Marisa slid awkwardly over the ledge and laughed as she knocked Mary off balance so that the two of them were laying half-off the surface, the monkey looking at them from the corner through narrowed eyes. 

_ Sorry to spoil your fun,  _ she thought to him bitterly as she rolled on top of Mary, kissing the woman's cheeks and then her forehead and then her ears and then her neck. She could feel the other woman's utter delight. 

_ We both know you didn't do most of the actual work,  _ he gruffed as he looked away and over at the TV. Whatever movie he and Mary had started was completely abandoned as Mary giggled beneath her and reached up to slide her hands across Marisa's back, moving lower and lower. It amused Marisa, as Mary was normally so attentive to films but in this moment couldn't seem to be bothered to pay attention. 

_ You're despicable,  _ the monkey droned to her again. 

_ But Mary doesn't know and you certainly won't tell her.  _

Marisa bit back a laugh as the monkey shot pangs of loathing toward her as he jumped off the couch entirely and moved to go inside the dining room, his tail high in the air with indifference to it all. He was upset, Marisa knew, at the way she never seemed to suffer the consequences of her actions. But this was silly. It was a driveway, which she didn't want to shovel in the first place. It all worked out in the end; Mary didn't have to know every detail of it. And now she could relish in her time spent back inside the warm indoors, the monkey's judgment be damned. 

**Author's Note:**

> I had to shovel snow after some storms, and I just CAN'T imagine Marisa EVER being happy about doing this—even if it was for Mary. Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
